Marilyn Horne "Simple Gifts" by Aaron Copland

[Taylaaamarie]

Just saw her at a master class 2 days ago at Carnegie, she looked beautiful and while demonstrating passages for the singers her voice sounded amazing! I was lucky enough to be able to meet her after the class and it is a moment I will never forget! What a wonderful, wonderful lady.

[Heytay123]

The most wonderful voice in existence...we are blessed to have this.

[otterbabi]

I was sitting in the first row at this concert. Marilyn sang the first note and shivers just went down my spine. At the end of her last song, you could hear a pin drop in the hall and then her last note bounced off the back of the hall. I has been my favorite musical since that day.

[dm633]

stunningly beautiful with no hint of sentimentality-I also love the control and and sincerity which makes this such a special recording.Thanks for the upload

[Baritone45]

Ms. Horne is a great talent and all, but if you want to hear the emotions of the words evoked in true simplicity, take a listen to Alison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma do this song justice. I think theirs is the most beautiful and elegantly simple version of "Simple Gifts" I've ever heard.

[OklahomaPadre]

Good stuff and good singing! Fond memories!

[MGHall07]

I love how magnificent Marilyn's voice was. Her voice was like a rock, from top to bottom, for decades, and even this late in her career it's all there still - and better still for the experience.

[DJNotNais]

first time i heard this, i mistook it for dvorak's new world symphony mo.2. what the fuck.

[chh5555]

SedonaCowboy is right! In Appalachian Spring Aaron Copland did what would be called sampling today... he borrowed the well known melody from the shaker hymn. Dvojak did the same thing in the New World Symphony.

[MrFalconford]

Americans are critics all the time now. We have little understanding of all the obsticles women like Marilyn Horne had to go threw to share this with us she is a true American. There are very few like her a dying breed.

[guetary]

Phenomenal - this woman is a force of Nature. I could listen to her sing all day.

[brotherbandit]

@SedonaCowboy, yeah, but Copland did feature it in his ballet, Appalacian spring. I guess that's where people get a little confused.

[cosmosman]

if she closed her throat more when singing she'd sound better imo

something is off

[nolajd]

@cosmosman you're making a joke, right? RIGHT???

[cosmosman]

@nolajd no i'm being dead serious....i don't like it...she sounds weird.

[baritonebynight]

@cosmosman I had to laugh at your comments....you trying to give Ms Horne advice on singing. Perhaps once you have sung majors roles in all of the worlds major opera houses and then sung thousands of recitals around the world and in all fifty states, then you can give Ms Horne advice. Not liking her timbre (that means sound quality) is one thing...disrepecting her technique is pure ignorance.

[cosmosman]

@baritonebynight Basically i was attempting to say that the lyrics are lost in her voice. there are parts where its very hard to understand what she is singing because of the way she is singing them.

Great she books opera houses and sings all over the nation.

and no i wasn't offering advice...it was an opinion.

but cool

[baritonebynight]

@cosmosman Do some research on Marilyn Horne and then you'll see you are in the minority.

[cosmosman]

@baritonebynight and my opinion should be in the majority why?

i could care less if i'm the only one that isn't awestruck at her talents.

that doesn't change the fact that i don't like the sound of her voice.

[nolajd]

@cosmosman do yourself a favor. Do just a little biit of research, and find out the basic mechanics of how a singer produces sound. The notion that a singer should "close her throat" is the complete and total opposite of what is needed to produce a healthy, supported tone. Then, when you've researched this, Google Marilyn Horne. You'll see just how "off" your opinions are.

[cosmosman]

@nolajd well marilyn horne (in my honest opinion) sounds horrible. though i'm hardly an opera enthusiast. I couldn't find any information on the basics of vocal sound production. But i know that one must control one's throat muscles while singing. one of my best friends is a professional singer and she talks about such things quite often. maybe "close her throat" weren't the best words.....I still don't like how she sounds regardless.

[sftbllchix11]

i'm singing this song in all-county chorus! :)

[WarMaster419506]

im playing this song in my band class

[mskatmai]

I am filled with tears of the sound of beauty. Thank you SO much.

[singerboi588]

Excuse me while I clean up the mess in my chair.

[themagicallunchbox]

Happy Thanksgiving world :)

[ceiligirl0317]

I had the incredible privilege of watching Ms. Horne give a three-day-long series of masterclasses and talks to singers last spring. It was an experience I'll remember forever and which has shaped me as a singer, even thought I was not one of the singers who sang for her. What a voice, what a musician, what a dame.

[andyb2707]

"Simple Gifts" is sublime, but what really puts me away is "Shall we Gather at the River", its so emotionally and beautifully sung.

[hailloki]

twould be a gift to have never gotten this god-awful piece of crap stuck in my head...

the original song that is. not the singer. she seems lovely.

[muslit]

Tears

[mskatmai]

me too!

[oakroom48]

Thank you for posting this unforgettable performance! :)

[uniqueattack]

always suspended! truly remarkable!

[pattie059]

Beautiful voice!!!  Terrific performance!

[luigicorvi24]

when you hear this lady sing you just know that despite everything,the human race has a lot going for it.

[Ninefingers1010]

There are a few works that she owns...this is one.

Perfect.

[Lanark8]

wonderful...

[simplegifts11]

^^^^^^^ lolz

[Runescape28]

True American :)

[KikiSazuki]

of course a 10+ from me

[KikiSazuki]

Oh Jackie!!!!! How wonderful. I hope you're feeling better and know I do when I hear you sing.... DK in Washington DC

[baritonebynight]

@KikiSazuki She's going GREAT from what I hear (from a friend of a friend of Ms Horne).

[jasprincess8]

omg my choir class is singing this but we sound ehhh i rather not say how we sound but were getteing there.

:DD

amazing voice

[johngotwalt]

it makes me cry

and I'm a big guy

[blixtex123]

i'm so amazed i was speachless when i watch it

[philly4u]

Speaking of simple gifts, what a wonderful gift she has. A beautiful voice is truly a blessing.

[panicxxxfreak]

I have to sing this song at solofest for my school :)

[emofestjazz]

me too :[ to hard

[r0ck0nlcrss16]

I'm a self-described metal-head, but I could listen to this again. I'm not too sure about the vocals yet (just not what I'm used to) but the song itself is very beautiful. See, this is where youtube comes in handy...it give me a chance to listen to and bookmark music I'd never find otherwise.

[hourlynewscaster]

I could listen to Horne sing that song a million times. I wouldn't trade you five seconds of this recording for all the butchered National Anthems that are being performed lately. She has an amazing way of performing the song in a manner that "presents" the song instead of presenting "herself." Dennis

[SedonaCowboy]

"Simple Gifts" was written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett of the Shaker Church, not by Aaron Copeland.

[eekeeley]

True. Copeland borrowed the tune extensively for his Appalachian Spring, which I'm guessing leads to the confusion.

[tallpaul87]

This arrangement (the accomapniment) is Copland though.

[nobodysperfect527]

@SedonaCowboy yes but aaron copeland wrote a classical piece based on this song...but he didn't write the original.

[bigsick3270]

@SedonaCowboy this version was adapted by Copland though.

[SnowFreak5150]

@SedonaCowboy Elder Joseph Brackett wrote the melody and lyrics; Aaron Copland arranged a piano piece that then became an orchestral piece.

[JosephofSykesville]

@SedonaCowboy This orchestral arrangement was from the suite "Appalachian Spring" which was penned by Aaron Copland.

[meltzerboy]

Horne brings together here all facets of the singer's art: beautiful tone and line, solid technique, emotional and controlled expression, dynamic variation, intelligent phrasing, and overall musicianship. She is truly a phenomenal artist and a singer's singer.

[podimusicus]

lovely!

[buddmar]

Extraordinary! Positively brings a tear to my eye!! To me a simple American Shaker folk song like "Simple Gifts" speaks volumes about America's civilaztion and grandeur ... as much as the Grand Tetons and the Golden Gate Bridge and the poetry of Whitman ...

[jetsetjordan]

Whitman is over rated.

[mizzfinduz]

wonderful

[lojundolo]

Yes, wonderful Jackie, once more.

But "Onegin55" has forgotten to write that, after the first song (SIMPLE GIFTS, from 'Old American Songs' arr. by Copland) in this video we can also hear and watch LONG TIME AGO and AT THE RIVER, from the same collection.

[olgamarga]

¡Onegin,qué hermosa versión,gracias.

[andreasscholl]

This is simply beautiful!

That always unique timbre and dark frases...

Wonderful.

La Horne, is the best contralto ever.